Grim Tales From Up Above
by moyeongsu
Summary: Continuation of Bleedman's Grim Tales From Down Below.  This takes place one year after Junior saves Minnie and is the story of him going to the human world and meeting Her.  It's short and sweet, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 1

It's not a simple life when you're the son of the Grim Reaper. Most times life is simple and it's very luxurious being "Prince of the Dead". Grim Jr. had always been a stubborn, selfish, little boy, who had despised his little sister for being the center of attention and having demon powers that were far beyond anything he could do.

About a year ago things changed with a visit to Halloween Town where his sister died for a little bit. Ever since he had saved her the two became very close and spent almost every moment together. It was kind of like they were trying to make up for lost time.

Junior's father called him in one day and ordered him to close the door. "Junior, you do know dat you're almost thirteen and you will hafta start you're Reaper training soon?" Junior gave a nod signing that he understood. "Well den, we should discuss your pre-training." With that conversation Junior's life was going to change from the boring and happy life to the trials of becoming the next reaper.

Grim told Junior that before he could start his real training he would first have to go to the land of the living and live there among the mortals. This was part of some complicated lesson for Junior to learn about the souls he was reaping. Being a reaper wasn't as simple as the world perceived it, so there would be much for Junior to learn.

The next day was full of pain and misery for Junior. He dragged his suitcase out the door. He could hear Minnie's voice from inside the castle yelling at their mother and pleading with her to reconsider. Junior looked at the ground while he walked to the carriage sulking.

"Junior? E'nt ya gonna tell your sister good-bye?" Grim was very understanding of the situation. Usually he was very distant and cruel, but now he was sympathetic and caring for Junior's feelings. Maybe it was because Grim had finally realized that Junior was growing up and that time was running out before Junior was no longer a child and became a hardened reaper.

Junior lifted his foot to the step on the carriage and as he was about to get in Minnie rushed out of the door at lightning speed. Junior jumped off the carriage and wrapped his arms around his sister.

"I'll be waiting for you when you come back." It was only for a year, but to an eleven year-old little girl one year was an eternity.

"Don't worry about it," Junior pointed a finger to his right eye. "I'll always have part of you with me."

Sitting in the carriage across from his father holding a little piece of paper with a black heart drawn on it. He didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to Sadako, his girlfriend, who would most certainly be heartbroken when he didn't show up for his weekly visit. Grim saw the little valentine his son was holding and questioned his decision for a brief moment, but realized that even if it was hard that this was the best thing to do for Junior.


	2. Chapter 2

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 2

Being in school is no treat for a child by any means. Especially to a twelve year old little boy who has just left home and dreams about his family every night. Junior sat by the window hypnotized by his own reflection. He had skin, a full head of hair, and another eye. The girls in his class said his eyes were pretty and that since they were two different colors that it must mean something special. They had no idea.

Junior slipped the cell phone out of his pocket slyly to check the vibration. It was a text from Uncle Nergal telling him to walk home today because he couldn't pick him up. It was a nice day out, after all. When the final bell rang Junior picked up his backpack and started on his way. He still had mied feelings about this whole situation, but he had made friends and was happy to be living with his uncle.

Endsville wasn't a very big town, so walking through the suburbs with no noise wasn't very extraordinary. Despite that, Junior started feeling uneasy. The wind blew some of the autumn leaves past him as he marched quickly to get to his uncle's house. Something just seemed strange.

When he first saw her, he thought she was Sadako. All he could see was the back of a young girl. She had long dark hair and a white one piece. She turned around in curiousity to the approaching footsteps. _WOW!__ Look at those eyes! _And what beautiful red eyes they were. She seemed startled at his presence, she must have been in very deep thought before he interrupted.

He was quickly approaching her. What should he do? They had already made eye contact. Should he just give a nod? How about a simple, "Good afternoon."? Good thing she acted first. "I'm lost. Do you know where Wallabee Way is?"

She was very forward. That plus her red eyes gave him the creeps. She could very well have been the Queen of the Underworld. "Sure…I'm headin that way if you wanna walk with me." They went two blocks without saying a word. It was very awkard. He wanted to ask her for her name and who she was going to see or anything to find out a little bit about her. She was very pretty and he didn't want to mess up another chance with a girl. The flashback of Flonne and the cafeteria loomed in his head from the previous week.

"I'm Junior. I guess I'm introducing myself a few minutes too late, huh?" He tried to hide the fear in his voice. Talking with girls wasn't his strong suit.

"Nice to meet you. I just moved here, so I kind of got lost on my way home from school. I'm kinda embarrissed about it, actually."

"I just moved here a few weeks ago. The houses and roads all look exactly the same, I got lost a few times too. Think about it this way, if you didn't get lost, you wouldn't be walkin home with me." He thought it would be a good way of getting her to smile. And it did.

They reached her porch and Junior became totally clueless as to what he should do. He had to ask her out! She was just so pretty, he had to try. "Wanna go to a movie Friday?" He just kind of shouted it. It was embarrissing. He sounded so stupid. _Way to go idiot!_

She was caught off guard by the question. She smiled at him and nodded her head in agreement. With that note, she opened the door and entered without a word leaving Junior on the porch scratching his head.

_Time? Movie? Phone number? Your name would have been nice._

All he thought about that night was her. Her eyes. Her hair. Her voice. Her. Her. Her. It was all about Her.


	3. Chapter 3

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 3

Uncle Nergal gave Junior a little extra money for the night. "Make sure to buy her some flowers or something to give to her when you pick her up." Junior was too embarrassed to buy flowers. He knew it would probably be the right thing to do, but he was very nervous and didn't know what would be right to buy or how to give them to her or if she even liked flowers.

He put his shoes on and headed for Her house. He was worried that she might not think this was a date. Then he remembered the way she smiled at him when she gave her approving nod. It must be a date. He rang the doorbell. She answered within in just a few seconds. "Whoa!" That's all he could say. She was wearing a dark red shirt with a black short skirt. Her long hair was gorgeous and those eyes… They were just so entrancing.

The movie was sold out! It was opening weekend, he should have known to buy the tickets in advance. "We'll just see another movie. Don't worry so much." She took him by the hand and smiled. "I didn't care about the movie anyway." Junior's face was red. She was so perfect, how lucky could he be?

He had the urge to kiss her right there in the middle of the crowd. He very well might have if the ground didn't start shaking. Her was terrified. From below the depths of the earth a beastly, disgusting monster emerged. It reminded Junior of the thing Spawn had protected Minnie and him from. Except this one was black and spikier. Cousins, maybe? It didn't matter, he had to protect Her.

He stepped towards the beast who was now glaring down at them both. The crowd had scattered leaving Junior enough room to fight. He turned back to Her, "Don't be afraid." With those words silver and green wings sprouted from his back and the scythe appeared in his hands. He couldn't see it, but Her was smiling at the sight of her knight in shining armor.

Uncle Nergal had trained him to use his scythe and his nergal powers more effectively in the last year. Now it was time to put his training to the test. Junior leaped up and swung the scythe so quickly that the only thing Her could see was a flash of light followed by the monster's right arm dropping to the ground. Junior landed on the beast's head. He knew he could take him, so why not have a little fun? The demon attacked Junior relentlessly swinging and biting. Junior was too quick. He dodged every strike. Finally, when Junior decided he was bored, he focused his power causing the scythe to glow green. With the last slash, the monster became nothing more than dust.

Junior turned to Her, now without a cocky attitude. He was scared. He was scared that she was scared. She didn't show any fear or surprise. She smiled at him and blew him a kiss. _She just blew me a kiss! Wow!_ He walked over to Her, still with his wings, "This is kinda weird, huh? Ya see, I'm…"

"You're a reaper? I'm really glad."

"You are?" She was just so full of surprises. Why would she be happy about that? How did she know he was a reaper? So weird.

"I have a surprise for you too." She began glowing red. In a flash of crimson light Her became a demon. Her skin was red, her eyes were still red(maybe a little darker), and she now donned a red outfit resembling something Santa Claus-like. She also had horns on the side of her head and in place of hands she had lobster claws. Junior was shocked. A little because he was just surprised and a little because she was even prettier in her real body.

"So, what movie did you wanna see?"


	4. Chapter 4

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 4

It was later than he should have been out, too bad that he didn't care. Junior was in a world where only Her and himself existed. It had been about a month since he came to the world of the living and he really forgot how good his own body felt. He was nervous about being a skeleton again, but she said that he was cuter this way. Now he was strolling around in the moonlight with his crimson red, beautiful demon girlfriend, with her clinging to his arm.

The first kiss she gave him was a simple peck on the lips. The second was a REAL kiss that he was sorely unprepared for. She noticed and helped him figure it out. They barely said a word while they sat on a hill in the cemetery. He told Her about coming here and missing his family and about fighting angels and Oogie Boogie. He didn't tell her much about Minnie or Sadako because it would just have been awkward.

"I don't want to live here anymore." She said abruptly

"Huh? Why did you move here anyway?"

"My dad was taken prisoner and they were going to come after me. He needs help, but I can't do anything. Junior…Will you help my father?" She held herself close to him and gave him those eyes. What else could he do except say yes?

Her tail was rubbing against his leg as she kissed him again. "Thank you." The reaper was ready to be the hero of the day. He remembered what happened last time with Minnie and how his mother had saved them. It wouldn't happen this time.

Only moments later did he begin to think twice. Junior stood at the gates of Hell in his Neo-Reaper form with Her behind him. Sally, the squirrel who tended to the gates of Hell, tried to argue with him, but she was out of her league. He wanted to ask her why her father was put here or who did it. Unfortunately, he was under her feminine charm and he only wanted to make her happy. Why ask questions?

A large monolith stood at the center of an island surrounded by molten lava. Junior approached the stone tablet with caution as well as curiosity. Something else was there; fear. He had never seen this before and yet he felt such enormous fear of it. A moment more of thinking and he might have turned back, until Her came up from behind him and whispered into his ear, "Do it." The scythe began glowing a bright green preparing to break the seal placed on the stone. _SLASH!_

With a fiery explosion the stone crumbled and a figure appeared. He was tall and resembled Her in appearance and dress. His claws were much more menacing and his eyes a deep yellow. He stared down at Junior with a wicked smile, "Thank you." His voice! It was so girly. And it echoed. "Little reaper, you have done well. I didn't think you would betray your own father." Junior was confused. "The father imprisoned me and the son set me free. How interesting." The fiend laughed at the irony.

Junior looked at Her in disbelief of what was going on. What had he done? She couldn't look him in the eyes, she averted her eyes. Junior didn't want to hear anymore. But the monster kept talking.

"I have some business to attend to up above. But since my daughter has become so fond of you, I think I'll let you two lovebirds spend all the time you want together. I've quite enjoyed myself in Hell, but now I am interested in seeing Heaven." He disappeared in a cloud of smoke before Junior could try to stop him. The next thing that happened was worse than he could ever predict. A strong wind began to blow, he closed his eyes at it's fury and when he opened them he had become a human again.

Junior looked back at Her who had also been bewitched. There were tears in her eyes as she silently pleaded for understanding. He turned his back to her and started walking away towards the gates. She didn't move her body, only her eyes followed him. Death was alive. Love was evil. Nothing made sense.

He could feel her eyes on him every step of the way. He had been betrayed, he should hate her. He didn't. He told himself not to look back. He knew he couldn't leave her if he looked into her eyes again. He did it anyway. He gave her a smile and gestured at her to follow. She dragged her feet as she walked to him.

He put his hands in his hoody pockets and looked over towards a huge rock wall covered in thorns. It was impossible to see where it led because there were clouds near the top, but the sign at the base gave it away; "This way to Heaven". Junior found a firm rock and grabbed hold of it in order to hoist himself up. A few meters up he looked back at her and reached out his hand, "Come on, we have to go."

"We can't stop him. He's going to kill everyone in Heaven and Earth. I'm sorry." She watched him climb the wall as gripped the thorny vines drawing blood. He ignored the pain and continued upward not knowing what he was getting himself in to. Junior had done something wrong and he had to go fix it because no one else might. So, up to Heaven he climbed.


	5. Chapter 5

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 5

Junior didn't know pain before he became a human. He had been dismembered plenty of times, but didn't feel a thing. Now, his hands were dripping with blood that was staining his hoody. Crying was new too. He wanted nothing more than to turn back and call it quits. Turn back to what? She betrayed him and he didn't know if he could think of her the same way again.

A long time ago Junior wanted to leave his home and live up above. He hated his place in life and his sister. That changed after their misadventure and now he wanted to be with Minnie with everything in his heart.

Junior looked up to see a figure falling from the sky. It swooshed by him and even though he only saw the person for a second he knew it was the angel that had taken Minnie to Heaven. Crashes and screams were audible from above him. It sounded like the angels were losing.

Junior pulled himself up on the soft green grass of Heaven only to see the beautiful world being torn apart. Hundreds of angels were fighting this one fiend, and losing. The ground was becoming littered with their bodies. It seemed so hopeless for anyone to beat him.

In the distance a portal opened in the sky. Grim descended from it with a horde of underworld warriors behind him. Junior's expression instantly changed and he was smiling wide. His mother, father, Spawn, Uncle Jack, Overlord Laharl, and Uncle Nergal were all standing there magnificently. "WOW!" Junior knew they couldn't be beaten.

The Pumpkin King used a black whip and caught one of Him's arms. SNAP! Him used his claw and disposed of the whip. Spawn leaped at Him only to be thrown in the other direction. Laharl attacked with his mighty sword slashing off the enemy's left arm. YES! A solid hit. Something unbelievable happened. A new arm formed over the nub. Him smiled with a grin that said, "Bring it."

Laharl formed a ball of energy so hot that the grass around him lit on fire. He threw it up and swung with his sword like a baseball bat, hurdling the energy ball at Him. He began sucking in air and with it the energy ball. He ate the attack?!

In moments the only fighters left were Junior's parents. His mom held a battle axe that appeared heavier than her. If it was heavy she didn't notice because she was carrying it with ease. Grim addressed the monster with a commanding voice, "Now listen here! I'm not quite sure how you escaped, but you're going back right now."

"Well, if you're really that curious? Take a look in that direction and you'll see my savior." All eyes were on Junior. He was on his hands and knees, bloody and scared. He hadn't felt this way in such a long time. He thought he had become so mature and strong, but he was still just an adolescent with a lot to learn.

Him's claw opened to release a swarm of snakes that wrapped themselves around Grim and Mandy. The rulers of the afterlife were struggling to breathe. What a pitiful sight to see Him towering over the helpless couple. Their son stared in horror as his parents, who until now seemed invincible, were beaten by the red monster.

"I want you to hurt, Grim. This isn't the right way to do it." Him turned his vision to Junior. Junior felt the ground disappearing from beneath him. He was being pulled to Him. "This is your child, right Grim?" POW! The claw struck Junior's face. Blood sprayed on Mandy. She didn't blink or cry out for her son. She stared at Him with a look that would kill any mortal and desperately thought of a way to escape. Junior's eyes met his father's. The look of fear in his eyes was indescribable. Maybe Minnie would save him. He laughed to himself at the thought of his ragdoll sister fighting this creep and pounding Him to a pulp.

Him saw the grin and smacked Junior again. "I can't believe you left my little princess all alone." He said it with a fake concern. "You're a bad boyfriend. I don't think I want to call you my son-in-law." He dropped Junior. He then opened a claw and from it protruded a razor-sharp blade. The fiend leaned over Junior's body as he reared back his arm, centering the blade directly over his heart.

"Junior…" Her's soft voice said in the distance. Junior and Him turned to see Her with a small knife at her throat. "I love you." The moment the words left her lips she sliced her throat. Junior tried to scream, but nothing escaped his lips.


	6. Chapter 6

Grim Tales From Up Above

Chapter 6

She sliced her throat with the blade, but instead of blood spraying from her neck there was a bright light that emerged from her. She lost all strength and hit the ground hard, as her body began to dissolve into tiny gold specks being blown in the wind.

Suddenly, the towering red monster, Him, started screaming in pain. His neck was gushing with blood in the same spot where Her had cut her throat. Junior got up and ran as quickly as he could from his once powerful adversary to the dying girl he adored so dearly. He lifted her head with his skeleton hand, unable to say a word. They were both in their original bodies now, simply staring at each other while she was dissolving.

"Why?" He finally managed to ask. She smiled and looked in the direction of Him who was turning black and breaking up into little pieces of ash being scattered in the breeze. Grim and Mandy were scratching their heads as they watched Junior walk towards them. He approached his mother and without a word wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

It wasn't until several weeks later was Junior finally able to talk to his mother and explain everything that had transpired. She didn't scold him or tell him how stupid he had been, she just asked if he really loved her. He gave a nod and she retuned to him an expression of sympathy and understanding.

Minnie stood in the doorway of his room while he sat on his bed locked in a daze. She couldn't have understood what he went through, but she still wanted to know. She sat there next to him trying to figure out what to say when he finally broke the silence, "I didn't know her for very long, but I know I loved her. And now that she's gone I don't want to do anything except cry."

"Brother, it is okay to be sad. Remember that you have an eternity to find love again, so don't become lost in despair. If you dwell on the past then you will never have a future."

The next few days gradually became better for Junior. He found himself able to get up and enjoy himself a little bit. Minnie even took him to a secret cave she had discovered in his absence. He was awestruck by the ghosts that lived there. There was even a headless horseman who Minnie had befriended. (How she did it was a mystery, seeing it was impossible to talk to him.) He gave them a ride to an interesting circus full of trapeze swinging zombies. Junior let himself get lost in the sights and sounds of the circus.

Junior was finally getting back to his old self. The events that had transpired up above seemed like nothing more than a bad dream. Despite everything returning to normal, he still missed Her and he missed living up above. Well, he was the prince of the Underworld and had better just get used to it he told himself. The siblings returned home at half-past midnight and crashed on the couch.

Junior woke the next morning to find that he was in the backseat of his dad's car with Minnie staring into a book. He inquired to what was going on and was answered by his mother turning around from the front passenger seat. "We're moving." She said it as though he wasn't supposed to be surprised. So, of course, he asked where they were moving to. "Your Uncle Nergal's neighbors moved out. We're moving up to Endsville." Junior merely looked up at his mother stunned, as if waiting for her to say, "NOT! Gotcha!" but it wasn't a joke. That's when he looked out the window of the mid-size car to view a glimpse of his school as they passed by. He couldn't believe it.

His dad offered to turn him human for school the next day, but Junior politely refused. He was perfectly happy being the one eyed skeleton he was. The Grim Reaper shrugged and went out to trim the hedges with scythe in hand. Junior led Minnie to school, telling her all about his classmates and how shocked they would be to see him like he was. Minnie carried her books close to her chest and stared at the sidewalk, she was excited to see all the kids and jumped with joy at the idea when Junior told her there was a school play coming up.

Junior wasn't paying attention to where he was walking because his head was turned to Minnie while he was talking to her. So when she stopped suddenly, he didn't know why until he turned his head to see a girl with red eyes and long dark hair standing only a few feet in front of them. It was Her, standing there as alive as ever, as a human girl wearing a red dress and a backpack, fully prepared for school.

Back in the distance was the shadow of the Underworld's queen, watching the three children go off to school. A deep Jamaican voice asked, "You know dat ya shouldn't of done dat. Just cuz ya have the power doesn't always give you da right." She wasn't listening to him scold her. Instead, Mandy just smiled at her kids going off to school.


End file.
